When is the best time of year to move house?
Buying a new home and moving into it are not only among the most important and exciting things you do in your life – they can also be the most stressful. Naturally, you want it to be a positive experience, so you tend to cling to any received wisdom that might help you along.
One common idea is that certain times of year are better for selling your home or moving into a new one than others – and this is something we are often asked about by both sellers and buyers. But is there any truth to this or does it really not matter?
In this article, we’re going to examine this question to discover whether there really is a best time of year to move house.
What are the busiest times of year for moving house?
Whether it’s the best time of year is another matter, but statistics do bear out the thought that summer is the busiest time for moving house. In fact, between 2007 and 2018, nearly 13% of those moving house in the UK did so in August alone.
It’s easy to understand why that might be the case. For starters, it’s likely to be most convenient for those with children of school age, as it will cause the least disruption if they have to switch schools as a result of the move. People also prefer the longer days and (theoretically) better weather that summer should bring.
On the flip side to that, however – as with booking holidays during the summer – is that with greater demand, you’re likely to have to pay a premium for your moving costs, if you manage to book anyone at all.
Incidentally, Friday tends to be the busiest and most popular day for moving and Sunday the least, with Sunday also being the cheapest.
Can you pick when you move house?
You can try to time everything so that you move house at the time of year that you want to, but there’s never any guarantee that you’ll manage it. It’ll certainly be harder to achieve if you’re in a long chain. Meanwhile, there are so many variables in the house buying journey – and it’s only right that these things are carried out carefully given the amount of money people are spending – that even the best laid plans can quickly have to shift.
Most people prefer to put their homes on the market in early spring, as the standard eight to twelve week process should mean completion and move happening in that preferred summer period. But there are other reasons it’s a popular time.
For instance, the Christmas and New Year holiday periods are out of the way and – unless things go really badly! – shouldn’t get in the way at the other end of the process either. And gardens look so much better in the spring that it can make your home look much more appealing to potential buyers.
What is the best time to move house?
If spring is the most preferred time of year for putting a house on the market and summer is the most popular for moving, then that must mean that they are the best times as well, right?
Not necessarily! For starters, the competition will be greater, whether you’re looking to buy or sell. Competition means that your house has to really stand out from the crowd to get a quick sale, while you may have to pay more if there are other buyers after the house you want.
Moving in quieter times can therefore mean that you might get the house you want for less than you would in the spring/summer timeframe. And once any sale has been agreed, things should also be able to progress more quickly, as conveyancing solicitors, surveyors and those providing results for the various searches have less work and fewer clients calling for their attention.
In the end, though, those popular times of year may just not suit what is happening in your life. For example, if you’re thinking about buying and your dream house comes on the market, then you don’t want to hang around waiting for the ‘right time’, because you’ll probably miss out altogether. Alternatively, you might be moving because of work, in which case you probably don’t have that much say, because you’ll need to be moved in for when the new job starts.
At Robert Ellis Estate Agents, we think that the best time of year to move house is when you’re ready – and we can offer friendly and practical support to both buyers and sellers at any time of year.
Our experience and knowledge mean that sellers’ homes will be presented and marketed in the right way to get the balance you want between best price and quickest sale, while for buyers we have one of the widest ranges of houses and flats available in the Nottingham area.
If you’d like to know more about how we can help you negotiate the property market, just give us a call or pop into your nearest branch.
